| Special love for special children: a perspective on Russia's disabled children | | Print | |
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MOSCOW, Nov. 9: In a sports club named "Starting Point" located in the western administrative region of Moscow, five or six children were playing indoor football. One of them, with green sportswear and red sneakers, was apparently passing the ball much slower than the others. Yet none of his team mates would urge him to run faster. Instead, they tried to pass him the ball, let him finish the shot, and often yelled "Bravo, Sasha, Bravo!" The 14–year–old boy named Sasha is a ninth grader at a special school. Like all his team mates, Sasha was diagnosed with cerebralpalsy (CP), an umbrella term encompassing a group of non–progressive, non–contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development. CRAZY ABOUT FOOTBALL "I like football and swimming, mostly I love football. I come here every week, I feel happy here," Sasha told Xinhua after the game. Although he sometimes lisps, the sweating and smiling Sasha was obviously happy to talk to strangers. The "Starting Point" club, established by the Moscow municipal government for people with disadvantages, is where Sasha and his buddies come every week for training or soccer games. Some of the club members have participated in the Russian Federation President Football Cup of the Disabled, an annual competition among some 100 soccer teams initiated by then–President Vladimir Putin in December, 2003, with the involvement of disabled people of all ages. The majority of CP children have movement disorders and language barriers, and Sasha's conditions were more severe than others in the team, said coach Lisitsin. "When Sasha first came here, things were terrible," Lisitsin observed. His movements were not quite coordinated, and he spoke inarticulately, so it was hard for him to communicate with his team mates, Lisitsin explained. "But none of these have stopped him from loving football," he said. "After nearly one year of training, Sasha has become better in all aspects, and things always change for the better, don't they?" The condition of another boy named Vanya is comparatively less grave. The 15–year–old eighth grader studying at a special boarding school was the best player in the team, Lisitsin said. "I like football, and checkers and chess," said Vanya. "I come here three times a week to play, and I like it here, my friends are all great to me," he added, while looking back at his companions from time to time. But things were not so great when Vanya was little, his mother Natalia admitted. "He was remarkably quiet at that time. Every time I took him out, I would worry about people staring at him, or asking 'What's wrong with him?'" she said. "Now everything is just fine. He's able to engage in normal contact, and he studies pretty hard now," she gushed. "And he loves to paint as well; at home I often paint together with him. "But the biggest wish of Vanya is definitely to be a soccer player," Natalia confided with a smile. "As for mine, I just wish Vanya healthy and able to find a decent job to live on his own," she said. SPECIAL POLICIES FOR SPECIAL CHILDREN "Every month the government will give grants, free medicine, free tickets for concerts and soccer games to my Vanya," Natalia said. "And we have a free recuperation opportunity every year, even the round–trip ticket for recuperation is free. "Though the grant was not sufficient, it still helps," she said. Indeed, with a current population of disabled children below 18years old at 545,000, the Russian government has adopted a series of measures and policies in favor of those children and their families. For instance, the government planned to spend 70 billion rubles(around 2.4 billion U.S. dollars) on disease prevention and hygienic improvement for disabled and orphaned children. The government also planned to promote inclusive education, requiring general schools to create conditions for the admission of special children. One of the educational priorities of the Russian government is to promote distance education for disabled children. This year, the government planned to invest one billion rubles (around 34.5 million dollars) on the development of distance education system. Prime Minister Putin said in August that the government would set up distance educational center in each federal governmental body with relevant equipment and personnel. He also pledged to give all 35,000 disabled children who qualified for distance education an opportunity of schooling by the year 2012. A Russian law on the social security of disabled children orders the government to give allowances to the disabled children and their families every month, and to compensate those parents who could not spare themselves for work because of their disadvantaged children. In particular, each disabled child can get 6085 rubles (around 209.8 dollars) per month, and they may get an additional 600 rubles (around 20.7 dollars) by 2010, according to Tatyana Golikova, Minister of Public Health and Social Development. Meanwhile, mothers of those disabled children were prohibited from working overtime or going on errands, and female employees having disabled children could not be denied job applications or fired at will. One parent of a disabled child could also enjoy a four–day extra paid vacation every month in order to take care of the child. Besides, the Russian government has also established several preferential policies concerning housing, transportation, recuperation and taxation toward those disabled children and their families. Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com |
